The explosive increase in the world's human population, with conse quent need to feed an ever-increasing number of hungry mouths, and the largely resultant disturbances and pollution of the environment in which man must live and produce the things he needs, are forcing him to search for means of solving the first problem without intensifying the latter. Food production requires adequate assurance against the ravages of insects. In the last three decades short-sighted, unilateral and almost exclusive employment of synthesized chemicals for insect pest control has posed an enormous and as yet unfathomed contribution to the degradation of our environment, while our insect pest problems seem greater than ever. Properly viewed, pest control is basically a question of applied ecology, yet its practice has long been conducted with little regard to real necessity for control, and in some cases, with little regard to various detrimental side-effects or long-term advantage with respect, even, to the specific crop itself. This book deals fundamentally with these questions. The development of pesticide resistance in many of the target species, against which the pesticides are directed, has occasioned an ever-increasing load of applications and complexes of different kinds of highly toxic materials. This has been made even more "necessary" as the destruction of natural enemies has resulted, as a side effect, in the rise to pest status of many species that were formerly innocuous. The application of broad-spec trum pesticides thus has many serious and self-defeating features.

Potato is the fourth major staple food in the world and is still rapidly gaining importance, especially in the tropics. In May, 1994 the second international potato modelling conference was held in Wageningen, the Netherlands, as a summerschool of the C. T. de Wit Graduate School. The conference was sponsored by DLO, SCRI, SSCR, W AU and the LEB-Fund. Over 80 scientists participated, coming from 16 countries. Of each crop physiological and modelling subject, a leading scientist was requested to write a review of the most recent developments in his or her field. The reviews, with highlights from the authors' own work, are such that the physiological work described is of interest to the modeller and the modelling work to the crop physiologist. Applications of the quantitative approach are also reviewed in the concluding chapters that deal with decision support systems, breeding and agro-ecological zoning. An outstanding point of this book is that both the crop ecology and the modelling of a broad range of biotic and abiotic factors are treated by scientists representing groups which are specialized in the subject. The two related disciplines met during the conference and thus wrote the chapters with each other's interest in mind. The book highlights the limitations for potato growth and development from the viewpoints of both the crop physiologist and the crop-systems analyst.

For investigators engaged in the study of toxins generally, and host-specific toxins in particular, it is a rare treat to attend a meeting in which toxins involved in plant pathogenesis are emphasized. A gathering of this type provides opportunity to consider the discovery of new toxins, their chemical structures, genes encoding enzymes that control their biosyntheses, their sites of action and physiological effects on plants, and their roles (if any) in pathological processes. Having acknowledged the inspiration fostered by a 'toxin meeting', however, it is important to point out that the program of this symposium was generously sprinkled with 'nontoxin' talks. These contributions generated cross-disciplinary discussion and promoted new ways of thinking about relationships among factors required for plant disease development. The point can be illustrated by considering just one example. We have in the past often regarded diseases mediated by host-specific toxins and diseases involving 'gene-for-gene' relationships as representing two different classes of fungal/plant interaction. This is largely because the key molecular recognition event in so-called 'toxin' diseases leads to compatibility, whereas the corresponding event in 'gene-for-gene' diseases leads to incompatibility. Yet the race specific elicitors produced by the 'gene-for-gene' fungi Cladosporium fulvum (De Wit, Adv. Bot. Res. 21:147- 185, 1995) and Rhynchosporium secalis (Rohe et a1. , EMBO J.

Although stem rust is mostly controlled by means of resistance cultivars, leaf and stripe rust continue to be major problems in many wheat-growing areas of the world. Wheat Rusts: An Atlas of Resistance Genes provides a basis to identify genes for resistance to stem, leaf and stripe rusts of wheat. Typical phenotypes associated with most known genes for resistance to the three rust diseases of wheat are illustrated in full colour. This book will assist the plant breeder to identify candidate resistance genes, thereby saving substantial time and resources before a single cross is made for genetic analysis. Prepared by well-known specialists from a leading international laboratory, Wheat Rusts: An Atlas of Resistance Genes comprises an introductory chapter, details of individual resistance genes, appendices and an index. Details for each gene include chromosome location, aspects of genetics and pathogen variation, the effect of environment on expression, origin, availability in genetic and breeding stocks, and use in agriculture. Audience: All wheat researchers including geneticists, pathologists, breeders and agronomists. This book is a unique and invaluable aid to all involved in developing wheats for resistance to the rust pathogens.

This timely volume presents a comprehensive overview of the behavioral and physiological mechanisms underlying insect feeding. The single source for up-to-date information on the subject, it features contributions from the most authoritative scientists in the field worldwide. Taking an accessible approach focusing on the sequential stages of the feeding process, Regulatory Mechanisms in Insect Feeding explores the principles regulating feeding, and it offers information necessary for the development of more effective and environmentally safe methods to control the feeding of pest insects. The authors incorporate a spectrum of information in areas ranging from neurophysiology to insect control.An inclusive reference that reflects recent expansion and advances in the field, this book * considers the problems encountered by insects when feeding on different types of food, as well as their adaptations for dealing with the problems * introduces the cyclic nature of feeding activity and its components and provides the framework for the discussion of various control mechanisms * discusses the underlying regulatory mechanisms of feeding in both the short and long terms in insects with a diversity of feeding habits * synthesizes concepts and details of the basic mechanisms underlying insect feeding behavior that are essential for the development of pest management methods. Regulatory Mechanisms in Insect Feeding is the ideal text for graduate courses in entomology and zoology with a special focus on insect behavior, physiology, neurobiology, and control. It is also a valuable resource for ecologists interested in insect-plant and insect-animal interactions, for scientists concerned with the mechanisms behind the physiology and behavior of feeding, and for those working in crop protection and pest management.

Biological control offers a promising alternative to chemical control which can have adverse environmental implications. This volume contains 16 articles describing the most modern topics in biocontrol of plant pathogens, including risk analysis for the release of microbial antagonists, genetic engineering and application of tissue culture.

In the last few decades there has been an ever-increasing component in most BSc Zoology degree courses of cell biology, physiology and genetics, for spectacular developments have taken place in these fields. Some aspects of biotechnology are now also being included. In order to accommodate the new material, the old zoology courses were altered and the traditional two-year basis of systematics of the animal kingdom, comparative anatomy (and physiology) and evolution, was either severely trimmed or reduced and presented in an abridged form under another title. Soon after these course alterations came the swing to modular teaching in the form of a series of shorter, separate courses, some of which were optional. The entire BSc degree course took on a different appearance and several different basic themes became possible. One major result was that in the great majority of cases taxonomy and systematics were no longer taught and biology students graduated without this basic training. We field biologists did appreciate the rising interest in ecology and environ mental studies, but at the same time lamented the shortage of taxonomic skills, so that often field work was based on incorrect identifications. For years many of us with taxonomic inclinations have been bedevilled by the problem of teaching systematics to undergraduates. At a guess, maybe only 5% of students find systematics interesting. It is, however, the very basis of all studies in biology - the correct identification of the organism concerned and its relationships to others in the community."

For 31 years, the North American Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation Conference (for merly Rhizobium Conference) has been a forum for scientists and graduate students to discuss their research advances, extending from basic aspects to agricultural appli cations, and dealing with topics ranging from bacterial genetics and metabolism to plant genetics and physiology. Nitrogen fixation, being a major life-supporting process on this planet, has attracted the interest of researchers for more than one century. Nitrogen fixation is responsible for the conversion of "inert" dinitrogen (N ) gas from the atmos z phere into usable ammonia, replacing the fixed nitrogen constantly being lost to the atmosphere by the denitrification process. Worldwide agricultural productivity is deter mined by the availability of fixed nitrogen in all its forms, which the continually increas ing human population depends upon for survival. An international momentum is developing in the use of biofertilizers to improve legume and non-legume crop yields and in the study of genomics in this area. New studies are being undertaken in several laboratories to study novel nitrogen-fixing systems, including non-legume crops. The North American Conferences on Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation have periodically chronicled the advances in our knowledge of this area. For the first time, this conference was held in Mexico. Thus, all three North Amer ican countries have been hosts for this event. This year conference brought nearly 200 scientists from 18 different countries presenting lectures and over 80 posters.

The book highlights the state of research in plant genetics and breeding and the results and applications of biotechnology procedures: i.e. achievements and perspectives of molecular biology and genetic engineering in the improvement of quantitative, qualitative and nutritional characters of crops, including their resistance to pests and diseases and their adaptation to different ecosystems. The book is divided into seven chapters. The first six are focused on the research aimed at improvement of resistance to Fungi, Bacteria, Nematode, Virus and Insect, and improvement of Quality. The latter was assigned two keynote lectures, respectively on agro-food quality and on quality of wood plants. Each chapter begins with a keynote paper. The seventh chapter includes the special lectures which opened and closed the Congress.

Aphids are the most important of the sap sucking insects, they are also major pests of agriculture, horticulture and forestry. This book covers the evolution of aphids and their development in relation to specific plants. Optimization is used to explain how modes of feeding and reproduction have affected their size and population structure and led to a very close and specific association with their host plants. Increasing knowledge of aphids has revealed that they are ideal organisms to use when studying many topical ecological issues. They are particularly important for testing predictions of life history theory, as their clonal structure makes it possible to test the response of a genotype to a wide range of conditions. Aphid Ecology has been thoroughly revised and expanded since the first highly successful edition was published in 1985. This book is aimed at specialists, post graduates and advanced undergraduates working in the fields of ecology and entomology.

Research on the mechanisms of plant defense responses to stress and pathogen attack has attracted much attention in recent years. This increasing interest stems from the fact that the tools of molecular biology now enable us to study the molecular basis of old biological concepts such as host-pathogen recognition (and particularly the gene for-gene relationship), hypersensitive cell death and systemic acquired resistance. Our knowledge about avirulence and resistance genes, elicitors, signal transduction and genes involved in plant defense is rapidly expanding. Moreover we are just beginning to test in planta the potential of these results for biotechnological applications, aimed at improving plant resistance to diseases. The 2nd Conference of the European Foundation for Plant Pathology, hosted by the "Societe Fran~aise de Phytopathologie", was devoted to "Mechanisms of plant defense responses" and was held in Strasbourg, France. It brought together over 350 scientists from universities, research institutes and private sectors of 24 countries. Major advances in the areas under study have been reviewed in plenary lectures and are developed in the main articles of this book. Over 160 high-quality posters were presented and are summarized in short articles. Data from outstanding posters, which were discussed after a short oral presentation, are found in extended articles. As a whole the book presents a collection of papers arranged in six sections and reflecting the present day state-of-the-art of research in the field of plant defense reactions.

The fifth and last Volume of this IPMD series reviews, in a multi-disciplinary approach, recent achievements in crop protection and integrated management of arthropod pests. The volume is organized in a first Section covering IPM in citrus productions, a Second one dealing with advacements in the integratioon of management technologies and a last Section covering mites and their biological control agents. As for the previous volumes, we attempted to provide an informative coverage for a broad range of agricultural systems and situations. The chapters are mainly organized and centered on crops, with a particular emphasis on citrus. This is one of the main crops in which biological control and IPM approaches were tested successfully, and the experience gained herein may indeed result helpful for IMP efforts deployed worldwide on other crops and/or cropping systems. Chapters in Section 2 review the integration of insect and disease management options in pecan crops, the application of remote sensing technologies, the status of knowledge about plant defense compounds and their potentials. For IPM of invasive species, an update is provided on the experience gained on the Red Palm Weevil (RPW) in Egypt. Long-term technological solutions for IPM in forests and park areas through aerial treatments with Bt spores concludes this Section. Finally, in Section 3, updated reviews about biological control agents of mites are provided.

In 1992 a Concerted Action Programme (CAP) was initiated by Peter Sijmons with the purpose of intensifying collaborations between 16 European laboratories working on plant-parasitic nematodes. The four-year programme entitled Resistance mechanisms against plant-parasitic nematodes' focused on molecular aspects of the interaction between sedentary nematodes and plants on the model system Arabidopsis and on novel resistance strategies. Funding was provided mainly for exchange visits between collaborating laboratories and for the organization of annual meetings. During the last annual meeting which was held in May 1996 in Toledo, Spain, Carmen Fenoll initiated the production of this volume. The book presents a series of up-to-date reviews, each written by one of the participating laboratories, which include the scientific progress achieved in the frame of this CAP but are by no means limited in scope to this work.

During the last decade, research on Pseudomonas syringae pathovars and related pathogens has progressed rapidly, opening up many new avenues. The application of molecular genetics has provided new insights into determinants of pathogenicity and virulence. Progress has also been made in elucidating the chemical structures and modes of action of phytotoxins from Pseudomonas syringae; by establishing novel strategies for disease control; in biotechnological applications; by studying the resistant reaction of the plant with a combined biochemical and genetic approach; and in the development of new detection and identification methodologies as tools in epidemiological studies. With such rapid advances it becomes more and more difficult to keep abreast of the developments and concepts within disciplines, all involving research on pathovars of P. syringae. In an attempt to provide a balanced overview, recent developments in these rapidly expanding fields have been critically reviewed at the beginning of each chapter by internationally renowned experts. Our comprehensive coverage has been made possible because all the contributors to this volume presented their latest findings at the 5th International Conference on Pseudomonas syringae Pathovars and Related Pathogens' in Berlin, September 3-8, 1995. In this way, it was possible to bring together contributions from a wide range of fields including phytopathology, genetics, bacteriology, plant breeding, plant protection, and taxonomy. This book is not intended simply as a record of the proceedings of the Berlin Conference, but as an extension of recent findings and hypotheses put forward at the meeting. All papers published in this volume have been reviewed by the Editors.

When I received an invitation to attend the International Symposium on Lethal Yellowing being organised by the Centro de Investigacion Cientifica de Yucatan (CICy), I was excited and a little nostalgic. During the 1970s, a series of similar symposia had been held under the auspices of the loosely-constituted "International Council on Lethal Yellowing" (ICL Y). These were the years when the MLO cause for L Y was first proposed, a vector was found, the disease was racing across mainland Florida, USA and it was suspected of having jumped to Cozumel. Analogous diseases were also reported to be spreading in Africa and elsewhere. The ICL Y meetings, held approximately every two years, proved to be an immensely valuable forum for all involved in the research and control of L Y. They attracted a very wide cross-section of scientists and practitioners working on L Y, on related diseases, and on palms in general. Many participants of those ICL Y meetings also attended this CICY Symposium. Unfortunately, during the 1980s, as countries learned to live with L Y, most of the national and international funding for L Y research dried up, and so did ICL Y. The present symposium is the only international meeting to have been devoted to L Y since the last meeting of rCLY in 1979. Its convening in Merida is timely.

The protection of agricultural crops, forest, and man and his domestic animals from annoyance and damage by various kinds of pests remains a chronic problem. As we endeavor to improve pro duction processes and to develop more effective and acceptable tactics for achieving this protection, we must give high priority to all potentially useful techniques for the control and management of insects. Pest control is recognized as an acceptable and necessary part of modern agriculture. Methods employed vary greatly and tend to reflect compromises involving 3 determining factors: technological capability, economic feasibility, and social acceptability. How ever, these factors are also subject to change with time since each involves value judgments that are based on available information, cost, benefit considerations, the seriousness of the pest problem, and the political climate. Whatever method is chosen, energy resources continue to dwindle under the impact of increasing popu lation, and it is inevitable that greater reliance must be placed upon renewable resources in pest management. One alternative is the use of a pest management method that uses the energy of the pest's own biomass to fuel a self-perpetuating control system. The use of biological control agents for the control of pests has long been an integral part of the pest management strategy in crop production and forestry and in the protection of man and animals. The importance and unique advantages of the method are well recognized; numerous treatises deal with accomplishments and methodologies."

These Proceedings evolved from the OECD Co-operative Research Programme workshop on "Potential ecological impact of transgenic plants expressing viral sequencies," held at the Agricultural Biotechnology Center in Godollo, Hungary on 24-26 April 1997. The OECD Co-operative Research Programme At the Directorate for Agrieulture of the Organisation for Economie Co-operation and Development (OECD) a co-operative research programme for "Biological Resource Management" has existed since 1990. It foeuses on work in four specific topie areas, one of whieh is "Ecology and utilisation of new organisms" (Theme 3). The activities promoted by this programme are post-doctoral fellowships (announced annually), and the organisation of expert workshops (1-2 workshops per Theme per year). The 26 OECD member countries participating in this programme are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, ltaly, Korea, Japan, the NetherIands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, SwitzerIand, Turkey, the UK, and the USA."

This book contains fuller versions of the papers and posters presented in the Knowledge and Technology Transfer and Teaching Plant Pathology sessions at the 9th International Congress of Plant Pathology held in Turin, Italy in 2008. Communication is an essential area for plant pathologists and it is not just the publication of results in the scientific press that is important. In a world where there is a major shortage of food and where a significant amount of it is destroyed by pests and diseases before it ever reaches the consumer, it is important to provide support to those who produce the food in order to reduce the losses. Reducing crop losses not only has an impact on health, but also wealth and, therefore, the ability to survive. With an ever-increasing demand on food supplies due to increases in population, and changes in life-style associated with rising incomes in certain parts of the world, plant pathologists have a pivotal role to play in contributing to global food security. Aspects of crop protection have lost favour with the general public because of concerns about environmental pollution and genetic modification of crops. This has had a 'knock on' effect in the recruitment and training of crop protectionist in g- eral and a concomitant impact on courses available at universities. However, it has never been more important to train people with good communication skills and an ability to solve problems to tackle the complexities of pathogen and plant interactions.

Genetics and Genomics of Populus provides an indepth description of the genetic and genomic tools and approaches for Populus, examines the biology that has been elucidated using genomics, and looks to the future of this unique model plant. This volume is designed to serve both experienced Populus researchers and newcomers to the field. Contributors to the volume are a blend of researchers, some who have spent most of their research career on Populus and others that have moved to Populus from other model systems. Research on Populus forms a useful complement to research on Arabidopsis. In fact, many plant species found in nature are - in terms of the life history and genetics - more similar to Populus than to Arabidopsis. Thus, the genetic and genomic strategies and tools developed by the Populus community, and showcased in this volume, will hopefully provide inspiration for researchers working in other, less well developed, systems.

Plants live in a constantly changing environment from which they cannot physically escape. Plants therefore need signalling and response mechanisms to adapt to new local conditions. The ef?cacy of such mechanisms underlies the plant performance during stress and therefore also impacts greatly on agricultural productivity. M- ulation of ion channel activity not only provides a means for rapid signal generation 2+ but also allows adjustment of cellular physiology. For example, Ca permeable ion 2+ channels can transduce environmental stimuli into Ca -encoded messages which can modify the gene expression. Furthermore, ion channel activity is essential to control cellular ion homeostasis that impacts on plant responses to drought, salinity, pathogens, nutrient de?ciency, heavy metals, xenobiotics and other stresses. This volume focuses on the crucial roles of different types of ion channel in plant stress responses. Functions of ion channels are discussed in the context of mechanisms to relay external and endogenous signals during stress and as mechanisms to regulate cellular ion homeostasis and enzymatic activities in the context of biotic and abiotic stress. The chapters presented cover cation and anion channels located in various cellular compartments and tissues.

Only 14 years have passed since the first publication appeared which implicated mycoplasmas as agents of plant disease. The diseases them selves have been known for much longer; indeed clover phyllody, a typical example, was described in the seventeenth century, well before any animal mycoplasma diseases had been documented. The early history of plant mycoplasmas is described in Chapter 2 and one obvious conclusion to be drawn from the frustrating experiences of the earlier workers is that the experimental methods at their disposal were simply inadequate for the task. Progress in science depends critically upon the development of new methods. Although important advances have been made in plant and insect mycoplasmology, notably in the discovery of spiroplasmas, many intractable problems remain. Most plant myco plasmas cannot yet be cultured in vitro, and their natural plant habitat, the phloem, is one of the most difficult plant tissues for the experi menter to handle, placing severe restrictions on the type of experiments which can be performed in vivo. It is clear that radically new methods may be required to solve these problems. A survey of the progress which has been made shows that application of techniques from a wide range of disciplines has been necessary. A successful individual or group of workers must possess the skills of a plant pathologist, a plantsman, a plant physiologist, a light-and electron microscopist, a bacteriologist, a biochemist, an immunologist, an ento mologist, a virologist and a molecular geneticist."

Abstract This chapter defines food security as the condition reached when a nation's population has access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet its dietary needs and food preferences. It stresses China's importance to global food security because of its population size. The chapter introduces the contents of the volume and then treats briefly food security in ancient and dynastic (211 bc-1912) China. It examines environmental stressors, such as population growth, natural disasters, and insect pests as well as imperial responses (for example, irrigation, flood control, storage and transportation systems). The chapter also briefly int- duces the Republican era (1912-1949) and compares environmental stressors and government responses then to those of the imperial period. Keywords Food system * Food security * Food production regions * Environmental stressors (Population growth * Natural disasters * Insect pests and Plant diseases * Deforestation * Climate change) * Irrigation systems * Flood control * Grand Canal 1. 1 The Problem of Food Security and Environmental Change Food is the material basis to human survival, and in each nation-state, providing a system for the development, production, and distribution of food and its security is a primary national objective. Many forces have influenced the food security of peoples since ancient times, with particular challenges from natural disasters (floods, famines, drought, and pestilence) and growing populations globally.

It was a compliment to me to be asked to prepare the fourth edition of Westcott's Plant Disease Handbook, and the decision to accept the responsi bility for the fourth edition and now the fifth edition was not taken lightly. The task has been a formidable one. I have always had a great respect professionally for Dr. Cynthia Westcott. That respect has grown considerably with the completion of the two editions. I now fully realize the tremendous amount of effort expended by Dr. Westcott in developing the Handbook. A book such as this is never finished, since one is never sure that everything has been included that should be. I would quote and endorse the words of Dr. Westcott in her preface to the first edition: "It is easy enough to start a book on plant disease. It is impossible to finish it. " This revision of the Handbook retains the same general format contained in the previous editions. The chemicals and pesticides regulations have been updated; a few taxonomic changes have been made in the bacteria, fungi, and mistletoes; the changing picture in diseases caused by viruses and/or viruslike agents has been described. A few new host plants have been added, and many recently reported diseases as well as previously known diseases listed now on new hosts have been included. In addition, photographs have been replaced where possible, and the color photograph section has been retained.

The past decade is probably unparalleled as a period of dynamic changes in the crop protection sciences-entomology, plant pathology, and weed science. These changes have been stimulated by the broad-based concern for a quality environment, by the hazard of intensified pest damage to our food and fiber production systems, by the inadequacies and spiraling costs of conventional crop protection programs, by the toxicological hazards of unwise pesticide usage, and by the negative interactions of independent and often narrowly based crop protection practices. During this period, the return to ecological approaches in crop protection was widely accepted, first within entomology and ultimately within the other crop protection and related disciplines. Integrated pest management is fast becoming accepted as the rubric describing a crop pro tection system that integrates methodologies across all crop protection dis ciplines in a fashion that is compatible with the crop production system. Much has been written and spoken about "integrated control" and "pest management," but to date no treatise has been devoted to the concept of "in tegrated pest management" in the broadened context as described above. Most of the manuscripts in this volume were developed from papers presented in a symposium at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Ad vancement of Science held in San Francisco in February, 1974. In arranging that symposium, the editors involved plant pathologists, entomologists, and weed scientists."